Bandsaws date back to at least 1809 where the patent for the idea was found but it was still considered an impractical tool. This was due to the blades used to do the cutting as nobody was able to make a blade that could withstand the flexing requirements at the time. A viable blade was introduced in the 1860s and bandsaws became popular across England and the rest of Europe. By the later end of the 1860s, the blades found their way to North America and manufactured bandsaws began to appear.

The patent for the first American bandsaw described a conventional two-wheel vertical band sawmill with no mention of blade guides or tensioning. The saw never achieved any long-term success that we know of.

The next patent had a 34ft blade. The diameter of the wheel was 5 feet and it was designed more like an I frame reducing the horizontal capacity by half. The large wheels, however, reduced the degree of flex experienced by the blade. While this was a good idea it still wasn’t the winning one.

There have been bandsaw patents for some wild ideas, going as far as using a chainsaw blade. Bandsaws underwent a lot of tinkering to get them just right, and there were certainly some impractical machines along the way. The first patented bandsaw that actually saw commercial production that we know of was Pryibil’s patent which covered an upper blade guide design and use of a spring for a yielding mount for the upper wheel. While not totally a practical design, it did at least see some production and is an important stepping stone in how we got where we are today. If you are interested in the best bandsaws for your projects, be sure to check out our website and see what all of this work over the years has led up to. After all, nothing cuts like a KAMA.

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